


Gratitude

by Zoya113



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: F/M, Gen, implied mental health issues, implied working boys, ooo get that father daughter dynamic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 20:16:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18858331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoya113/pseuds/Zoya113
Summary: Emma notices Hidgens isn’t looking too well again lately





	Gratitude

“I’ll be right back, Paul. I’m gonna go hand in this practice paper to Hidgens.”  
“That’s cool, I’ll wait in the car. Say hi for me!” Paul smiled.   
Emma left the car behind her, wandering onto campus towards Hidgens’ office. Yesterday, Hidgens cancelled the lecture last minute and hadn’t shown up to campus at all. Emma didn’t actually have any classes today but she knew something was up. She forced an extra hour into her day to write up a practice paper just to have an excuse to check up on him.  
Hidgens didn’t appreciate pity, he wouldn’t be very happy with her if she took time out to visit him. Emma grunted, lately he had been scolding her for not having enough time for herself.   
She entered the corridor that lead to his office and felt an odd sense of foreboding.   
She knocked on his office door but received no response.   
She knocked again.  
Radio silence.  
“Professor?” She called.   
Nothing.  
Emma sighed. She shook off her worry and put on a smile, opening the door herself.  
“Hey professor! I was wondering if you had a moment? Woah, sorry, are you alright?”  
Hidgens was asleep with his head rested on his desk. Papers were scattered around his messy, dark office. It was exactly as Emma had feared.  
He shot up when he heard her coming in. His eyes were wide but tired and hair was greasy.   
“Sorry, Emma. What can I do for you?” He combed his hair back into place, trying to gather his thoughts.  
“Uhh…” she bit her lip. “Are you okay?”  
Hidgens nodded, his hand searching his desk for a pen. “Are you? We don’t have class today, what are you doing on campus?  
“I’m fine!” She said with an edge to her voice that told Hidgens not to change the subject. “Were you asleep just now?”   
“No, just resting my eyes. I’m getting old you know,” they stared each other down for almost a minute in complete silence. Emma knew he was lying and he knew she did.  
“Well, I just wanted to hand in this practice paper. I’m really struggling with uh,” she racked her head for words but she couldn't help looking over at him. He looked exhausted and ill, almost haunted.  
“Photosynthesis,” was the only word that came to mind in the end.   
“Photosynthesis?” Hidgens repeated, tired, but not tired enough to let that slide.   
“Uh-no! Paracrine signalling, sorry, I’m just a bit distracted right now. I’ve got a lot on my plate.”  
“You have to let me know if I’m giving you too much work, Emma.”   
“No, no, I’m fine.”  
“You don’t have enough time on your hands to be doing practice papers, you know you can come directly to me if you need help. How have you been? Have you been alright? You look tired.”   
Emma shook her head. “I’m coping, I’m doing just fine,” she told him, pushing the topic off herself again. ‘But you clearly aren’t,’ is what she wanted to say, but he didn’t need her pestering him.   
Hidgens began tidying the papers up on his desk to make room for Emma’s.  
“Uh, you know what?” Emma held the papers close to her chest. “You look pretty busy, I should get this peer-assessed before I bother you with it. I’ll give it to you later on. Are you gonna be alright?”  
“I’ll be fine, dear. I’ll see you tomorrow. Get home safely.”   
“You too, professor. Thank you,” she closed the door hesitantly behind her, disturbed.  
“Did you hang your paper in?” Paul asked once she got back to the car.   
Emma shook her head, looking for the right words. “I think Hidgens is in a bad way again,” she mumbled.  
“What do you mean?” Paul tilted his head.  
Emma sighed. “He fell asleep in his office,” she put her seatbelt on. “He’s getting lonely again.”  
“I can’t imagine Alexas keep good company,” Paul didn’t like the news either, he was distracted when he started driving. “We should go and visit him! He might like that!” He suggested.   
“Nah, he’ll know its out of pity if we rock up for no reason. That’s not gonna make him feel any better. He wants like, genuine company. We’re not gonna be much better than Alexa if he knows what we came for.”  
“Well what does he want?”   
“He just doesn’t have anyone else left,” Emma looked up sadly at Paul.   
Paul gave her a quizzical look. “What about you then?”   
“Me?”   
“Yeah, you two are friends right? He has you. He’d love your company.”   
Emma nodded slowly, formulating an idea in her head.   
Paul shrugged. “But I don’t really know. You know him better than I do. Do you have any ideas?”   
Emma looked down at the practice paper in her hands. “It’s okay, I’ve got something in mind.” 

———————————————————

Hidgens had been running off of about seven hours of sleep the past three days.   
He cancelled his last Biology lecture hoping he could finally get some sleep but to no luck.   
His alarm clock beeped harshly as it hit 8:00. He didn’t have work today but he let it chime anyways.   
“Good morning, Alexa,” he mumbled.   
He rose from the bed he spent his sleepless night in, throwing his burgundy dressing gown over his pyjamas.   
He was feeling guilty today, only worsened by the fact that Emma knew he had been neglecting his health again. She wasn’t going to let him hear the end of it.   
He paced aimlessly about the house in an attempt to figure out what he was going to spend his day doing considering he just couldn’t get to sleep.  
Then he heard the doorbell ring.   
It was only a few minutes past eight, far too early for any sort of visitor.   
He cautiously made his way towards the front door. It creaked as it opened.   
“Good morning professor!” Emma stood on the other side, beaming. She held her practice papers under her arms.   
“Good morning, Emma.” He turned around to check the clock again. “What are you doing here so early in the morning?” He rubbed his eyes, trying to smile.   
“I figured you’d already be up.”  
He would have assumed she had come to tell him off for not looking after his mental health if it wasn’t for her smile. She looked very happy to see him.   
“Well, I still needed some help with Paracrine signalling so I thought we could have breakfast together,” she invited herself into his house, placing her paper down on the dining table. “I’ll cook, I brought you groceries too,” she slipped her bag off her back.   
Despite how tired he was a natural smile pushed its way onto his face.   
“I’ve been going over my notes forever,” she threw open the curtains, letting sunlight into the room. “But for the life of me I just can never remember how signalling cascades or whatever it’s called works! I thought you could help me considering you have like, a doctorate, that makes you super smart.”  
Hidgens nodded. “Of course I can help.” It had been a long time since someone had payed him a compliment outside of Emma but somehow it never failed to brighten his day.   
She moved back and forth around his kitchen, preparing plates and cutlery and turning on the stove, bringing his empty house to life.   
“Alexa, play us a song,” she requested.   
Hidgens humbly took a seat at the table she had prepared as a joyful, classical piano score filled the air.   
“I’m making you pancakes because it’s the only thing I know how to make for breakfast.” She set her ingredients up on the table. “But as soon as we finish eating we can get to neurotransmitters and all that shit,” she grinned, focused on her cooking.   
“There’s no need to cook breakfast,” Hidgens tried to convince her.   
“Alexa and I both think that’s bullshit. If you’re not gonna eat these for yourself, eat them for me so you can tell me how good I’ve gotten at cooking, got it?”  
Hidgens chuckled. “I understand.”   
Emma wasn’t ever going to be the same as his boys, but she was her own kind of amazing and she had the energy and personality that could match that of all his old friends combined.   
He didn’t think grateful was a strong enough word, he didn’t think he would ever be able to find one good enough to describe her.

**Author's Note:**

> Oofh I was fully absent yesterday & rocked back up w this very short fic I hope I can still upload on a regular basis after this but I’m dumb as hell and also going through testing week rn so ooUgh but thank you for reading !!!!


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